1. Depending on your comfort level with 3D printing, you may want to check out Kathy Schrock’s Guide to 3D Printing in the Classroom before starting.. Students will be spending the class creating a concise, informative, well organized summary of 3D printing using one of the online platforms/education apps appropriate for student work of this nature. Three of the most common are:Easel.ly - “a website that features thousands of free infographic templates and design objects which users can customize to create and share their visual ideas online.” (Click here for Infographic rubric)Explain Everything - “easy-to-use design, screencasting, and interactive whiteboard tool that lets you annotate, animate, narrate, import, and export almost anything to and from almost anywhere.”Adobe Spark - “turn your ideas into impactful social graphics, web stories and animated videos—in minutes.”

3. Have students summarize information in an “Introduction to 3D printing” multimedia tool using one of the suggested online platforms (see above). Having an authentic audience for this tool (younger students at school, on school website, for parents/grandparents, etc.) will help students aim for high quality and usability for this piece of work. There are many sites that have good “Digital Presentation” rubrics that you may use to have students assess their own and others’ presentations. This EdTech Assessment site is one.

Lesson conclusion:Have students pair up and share their multimedia tools with each other, using an appropriate rubric to give feedback on the quality of their product.

Lesson 3.2: Effective 3D printing of eNABLE devices

Note: eNABLE device files are open source. Initiatives pairing schools with recipients in need of upper limb devices are fluid, but any school with a 3D printer and internet connection may download and print the files of the devices on this Enabling the Future Upper Limb Devices web page. Schools that are looking to become involved with eNABLE should contact Jen Owen at Enabling the Future or check out the eNABLE Google Plus Community. Due to constraints associated with the time needed to print the components of eNABLE devices (typically between 16 and 22 hours), this lesson may well take the form of a series of lesson implemented over time to allow a given class to print the components of a number of hands. Alternatively, teachers may choose to “pre-print” a number of hand kits the they share with their class after having walking through effectively printing the components of one or two hands with their students.

Lesson Objectives: Following this lesson, students will:

Understand how a 3D printer works

Know the criteria for an excellent print of components of an eNABLE hand

In a group, print the components for one eNABLE hand that will either be assembled “in house” or sent off as an unassembled “hand kit” to a school without a 3D printer. Contact Enabling The Future for more info

Lesson Intro:Show Design Squad Global video: 3D Printed HandAnswer questions from students regarding the project they are about to undertake.

The Raptor is an older design that has since been improved upon but there are many resources that will support the printing and building of this design.

The Raptor Reloaded is an older design that came after the Raptor.

The Phoenix v2 is a newer model that is slightly easier to build as it uses orthodontic elastics instead of having to thread bungee cords through the device.

Of course, there are hand designs other than these three that you may choose to print. If you are considering printing more than these 3 devices (to have students compare, to test, etc.) you will likely want to look through teacher Chris Duckett’s “6 hands project”

For 1st time builders, a general rule of thumb is the smaller a device the more difficult it will be to assemble. We recommend printing at 120% scale or higher

2. If you are new to 3D printing, there are many resources that will guide you through your first prints (including support materials that came with your printer.) One of the better choices is this video series from MatterHackers. Also, here is a great series of student-produced resources on printing hands using a Makerbot from teacher Chris Craft - http://www.handchallenge.com/printing.html. Have students spend time reviewing these resources before printing.

4. Have students peruse the Upper Limb Devices page of Enabling the Future for detailed information about things to keep in mind when printing. Again, hand component prints can take up to 22 hours, so you may have to be creative in the way you determine equal access to printers and printer time for your students. Hand components can either be printed individually or as a single build. One option is to pre-print some of the more time-intensive (ex palms) or repeated pieces (finger pieces) so that students can still be expected to print parts of the hands but overall time to print all components is reduced.

Lesson conclusionWork with students to develop a clear schedule as to when each group will be printing their components

Lesson 3.3: Analysis of individual printed components

Lesson Objectives: Following this lesson, students will:

Have had an opportunity to think critically and evaluate the quality of each other’s prints

Have set out a plan to address major issues with prints

Decide, supporting recommendations with evidence, on the hand components with the highest print quality

1. Have class co-create a checklist for “What Makes an Effective eNABLE Hand Print?” - students may want to watch the John Diamond video, “Assessing the Quality of a Phoenix Hand” to inform ideas about quality of a print

2. Have each group set out their component print - distribute groups’ prints around the room in “print stations”Conduct a print “Carousel” - each group starts at their own station, when the teacher calls “switch”, each group moves to the station to the right and spend a set amount of time (5-10 minutes) at the next print station, using the“What Makes an Effective eNABLE Hand Print?” checklist (1 rubric per print) to assess the quality of the component print. “Switch” is called again and the quality assessment is repeated until the group arrives back at their station.

3. Groups receive the feedback from their peers and spend time analyzing the comments

4. If the school has contacted Enabling the Future and they are open to receiving your hands, it is important that only high quality printed components be used to make hands. Poor components = Poor hands. If printed components and hands that are being built are staying “in house”, it is the teacher’s discretion regarding which components are used to make the devices. If it is the intent of the school to send the hands to Enabling The Future, the teacher might think about engaging students in a critical thinking exercise in which the classes select a small number of the highest quality prints (if “hand kits” are being sent in) or constructed hands in order to improve the overall quality of hands into Enabling The Future